He established Peace, Peace in the Universe at the cost of wars
Many modern historians, such as, for example, V. Yan in his novel "Genghis Khan" depict Genghis Khan as an uneducated, bloodthirsty, cruel, terrible person who does not have a single positive character trait. Indeed, he was cruel, had no education and was illiterate.
But the very fact of the creation by him and his heirs of an empire that united 4/5 of the Old World, from the mouths of the Danube, the borders of Hungary, Poland, Veliky Novgorod to the Pacific Ocean; from the Arctic Ocean to the Adriatic Sea, the Arabian Desert, the Himalayas and the mountains of India testifies, at least, of him as a genius commander and calculating administrator, and not just as a conqueror-destroyer and terrorist. Who was Genghis Khan?
Mongol tribes (uluses) lived on the border of the Great Steppe and mountain taiga, and were part of the Turkic empires. For thousands of years, Mongol warriors, together with the Turks, went on a campaign against a common enemy - the Chinese Empire. As vassals of the Turks, the Mongols participated jointly in almost all military campaigns of the Turks. These campaigns were reflected in the customs and traditions of the two peoples. Both peoples professed Tengrianism, used the Turkic alphabet, had the same totem - a wolf. Mongols are cousins of the Turks, both are children of the Gray Wolf.
The origin of the word "Mongol" is not fully established. It began to be used only after the formation of the state of Genghis Khan, when a common name was needed for all Mongol-speaking tribes.
According to the "Secret Legend of the Mongols", the ancestor of all Mongols is Alan-Goa, in the eighth generation from Genghis Khan, who, according to legend, conceived children from a sunbeam in a yurt.
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In the XI-XII centuries. the tribes speaking Turkic and Mongolian languages occupied vast territories from the upper reaches of the Irtysh River in the west to the upper reaches of the Amur River and the Big Khingan ridge: Taichiuts, Tatars, Kerait, Oirats, Merkits, Onguts, Naimans. There were clashes between the tribes over pastures, watering places, convenient parking. Then individual groups changed their nomadic camps, but all the regions remained the original nomadic camps of the tribal unions.
Genghis Khan's grandfather, Khabul Khan, was a rich leader of all Mongol tribes, successfully waging wars with neighboring tribes. Father Yesugei-batyr also played a prominent role among the Mongol tribes. He was not a family aristocrat, but he was a brave, fair batyr, so nomads gathered around him, offended in their tribe or did not get along with their tribal leaders. His tribe was the complete master of the fertile valleys between the rivers Kerulen and Onon.
In one of the battles, Yesugei-batyr captured the Tatar princes Timuchzhin-Uge and Khori-Bukh. At this time, in 1162, his wife Hoelun-uchjin gave birth to his first son. And in honor of the truce and victory, the capture of the Tatar prince Timuchzhin-Uge, he named his son Timuchzhin ("iron"). Thus, the future khan - the unifier of Mongolia, was named a Tatar name, which indicates the close relationship of the tribes that lived in this region …
When Timujin was nine years old, according to Mongol custom, he was married to a girl Borte, from the Honkyrat tribe. Borte was one year older than him. According to Mongolian customs, the bride and groom were supposed to be engaged for five to six years, and after that they played a wedding. The father of the bride, Dai-Segen, received the future son-in-law very well.
Soon after, Timuchzhin's father was killed. With the death of Yesugei-batyr, the ulus he created disintegrated. The elders of the Mongolian tribes refused to obey the too young and inexperienced Timujin and went with their tribes to another patron. All the remaining property of the former leader's family included only eight horses and a generic "bunchuk" - a white banner with the image of a bird of prey - a gyrfalcon and with nine yak tails. A long streak of hardships came for the family. The family, in which there was no warrior-master, was poor and all the time was under the supervision of former comrades-in-arms, servants and supporters who fled from it. The fact that Yesugei's children survived is the merit of Hoelun. After all, her eldest son was 9 years old at that time, and her youngest daughter was only a year old. This went on for five or six years.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that Timujin was rivaling his half-brother Bekter. They constantly quarreled, and during one of the quarrels Timujin killed him.
The news of the murder spread quickly across the steppe and reached Bekter's relatives, who demanded the extradition of Timuchzhin. A relative of Bekter, Targutai-Kirintukh, appeared with his nukers (armed vigilantes in the service of the clan aristocracy - noyons) to the Hoelun camp and demanded the extradition of Timuchzhin, the main culprit of the murder. Targutai brought him to his ulus and subjected him to "legal punishment": Timuchzhin was put on a slave kanga - a heavy wooden neck-block, a guard was put on him, and since there was no prison in the ulus; the prisoner was transferred to the night one by one from yurt to yurt. Once, during some holiday, Timuchzhin contrived and, hitting the man who was guarding him on the head with a block, fled into the forest. From that time on, Timuchzhin's wanderings began.
Despite the strength of the Mongols' ideas about clan bonds as the basis of life, there were always people who were burdened by the power of the elders in the clan community. They separated from the community and became people of the "free state". Their number grew steadily. Among them was the son of the deceased tribal leader, who lost his fortune and position - Timuchzhin.
At the age of 17, he returned to the camp of Borte's father, and took her as his wife. Later in history she will be known as Borte Fujin, the empress, mother of four sons and five daughters of Genghis Khan. And although the chronicles report that Genghis Khan had about five hundred wives and concubines from different tribes, among the five main wives during his life, the first wife, Borte Fujin, will remain the most respectable and eldest for Genghis Khan for life.
After marrying Borte, Timuchzhin acquired the support of his wife's tribe, and then a number of other tribes. The presence of powerful friends changed Timujin's position. The children of his father's companions and heroes who had departed from their families began to adhere to him. Thus, by the age of 25 (by 1180) Timuchzhin had become the leader of a small horde, which consisted not of tribes, but of people of a “free state”.
From that time until 1206, one of the most difficult periods in the history of Mongolia and the fate of Timuchzhin begins: constant internal wars, raids, mutual cattle stealing, which burdened the Mongols themselves. The "people of the free state" grouped around Timuchzhin and a struggle began for unification with rival alliances - the Kerait of Wan Khan and the Naimans of Tayan Khan. By 1206, the unified power of the Timuchzhin was established over all the Tatar-Mongol tribes, which was "legally" confirmed at the kurultai (all-Mongol congress) in 1206.
In the life of Genghis Khan, in general, two main periods can be distinguished: the period of the unification of all Mongol tribes into a single state and the period of conquest campaigns and the creation of a great empire.
In 1206 the kurultai - the congress of the khans of all Mongol tribes - proclaimed Temujin the great kagan and gave him the title of Chinggis Khan - Chinggis Kha-Khan, the Greatest of the rulers, the Lord of all people. "Chin" meant strong, strong. Chinggis is a plural of him, but there is no plural in the Mongolian language, and the word “chingis” is translated as strong and great. There is another point of view on the meaning of the word "chingis", according to which it comes from the Turkic "tengiz" and means "sea", and the title "Chinggis Khan" means "lord of the ocean", "lord of the universe."
Timuchzhin's activities reflected the interests of the noyons (tribal aristocracy, "people of the white bone"). In an effort to secure their support, he established a kind of court with a large staff of court officials. Genghis Khan legalized the institution of darkhans - persons exempted from all extortions and duties for special merits; decisively refused to organize the army on the basis of the family and tribal principles.
The army was rebuilt and consisted of tens, hundreds, thousands and 10-thousand-strong detachments led by tenth, sotsky, thousanders and temniks, and the chiefs were appointed not on the basis of kinship or nobility (although both were always taken into account), but on the basis of meritocracy (i.e. from the best warriors), which played a huge role in the maximum possible combat capability of the Mongolian army.
The reform of the army dealt a blow to tribal ties, representatives of different tribes ended up in the same thousands and hundreds, united by service or living in the same area, but such a mixing of tribes laid the foundation for a single Mongolian people.
The reign of Genghis Khan strengthened the central power and brought Mongolia to the ranks of the most powerful military countries in Central Asia at that time. He went down in history as a brilliant but ruthless conqueror. As a commander, he was characterized by the courage of strategic plans, deep foresight of political and diplomatic calculations. Intelligence, including economic, organization of courier communications on a large scale for military and administrative purposes - these are his personal discoveries.
War was proclaimed the most effective means of acquiring material well-being. So the era of military campaigns of the Mongols began.
As a conqueror, he had no equal. In 1211, Chinggis Khan began a campaign against Northern China and in 1215 occupied the capital of Northern China, Beijing. With the capture of Northern China, the Mongol state strengthened and grew. Genghis Khan began to call himself "the ruler of the East." From 1215 to 1221, the whole of Central Asia, Afghanistan and part of India fell under the rule of Genghis Khan. In 1221 - 1223 Mongolian troops appeared in the Black Sea steppes, invaded the Crimea, ruined the city of Sudak and defeated the Russian-Polovtsian regiments on the river. Kalke, near the Sea of Azov. As a result of the aggressive campaigns of Genghis Khan, a huge empire was formed, covering Mongolia, Northern China, Southern Siberia, Central Asia, and Transcaucasia. Its capital was the city of Karakorum, located on the proper Mongolian territory on the river. Orkhon. The Mongols carried out military raids on Russia, Hungary, Moravia, Poland,Syria, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. In addition to Russia, Eastern and Southern Europe, the Mongols conquered Tibet, invaded Japan, Korea, Burma and the island of Java.
Genghis Khan is credited with uniting the nomads and creating a strong Mongolian state. He united Mongolia and expanded its borders, creating the largest empire in the history of mankind. His collection of laws "Yasy" for a long time remained the legal basis of the nomadic peoples of Asia.
The introduction of a set of military and civil laws made it possible to establish a solid law and order on the vast territory of the Mongol Empire, non-observance of its laws was punishable by death. Yasa prescribed tolerance in matters of religion, respect for temples and clergy, forbade quarrels among the Mongols, disobedience of children to parents, stealing horses, regulated military duty, rules of conduct in battle, distribution of war booty, etc.
“Yasa prohibits lies, theft, adultery, prescribes to love your neighbor as yourself, not to cause offense, and to forget them completely, to spare countries and cities that voluntarily submitted, to exempt from any tax and respect temples dedicated to God, as well as his servants.
Genghis Khan declared shamanism, Christianity and Islam as the official religions of his empire.
Being a cruel and even merciless man, walking to his glory over the mountains of corpses, Genghis Khan could not help but think about life and death. He saw how easily human life is cut short, and therefore wanted to extend his own and learn the secret of immortality. He had heard that the Taoists had this secret, and the Taoist monk Chang Chun was especially famous. He summoned Chiang Chun to his place, ordered him to settle with his disciples in any place he liked and pray for the longevity of Genghis Khan. Dreams, dreams, there are many ways to prolong human life, but there is no way to make it eternal. The Shaker of the Universe will have to be convinced of this very soon.
In November 1225, after a four-year hiatus, Chinggis Khan personally led the Mongol army on the last campaign against the Tangut state of Xi Xia. In the winter of 1226 - 1227. the last siege of the capital of Xi Xia - Zhongsin began, the death of which is directly related to the death of Genghis Khan.
On August 29, 1227, Genghis Khan left this perishable world at the age of 72. Before his death, he wished that the king of the Tanguts would be executed immediately after the capture of the city, and the city itself would be destroyed to the ground. Different sources give different versions of his death: from a wound with an arrow in battle; from prolonged illness after falling from a horse; from a lightning strike; by the hand of a captive princess on their wedding night. Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: the Shaker of the Universe was no longer there, he forever became "tengri" (shadow), embraced the road bush.
The Golden Chronicle says that on the route of the caravan with the body of Genghis Khan to the burial place, all living things were killed: people, animals, birds. “They killed every living creature they saw so that the news of his death would not spread to the surrounding areas. In four of his main hordes mourning was made and he was buried in the area which he once deigned to designate as a great reserve."
At the dying wish of Genghis Khan, his body was taken home and interred in the Burkan Kaldun area. So that the grave in subsequent times was not found and desecrated, after the burial of the Great Khan, a herd of horses was driven several times across the steppe, destroying all traces of the grave. Everyone who participated in the burial and could remember this place was subsequently killed, those who carried out this order were subsequently killed too. Thus, the secret of the burial of Genghis Khan remains unsolved until now, and so far attempts to find the grave of Genghis Khan have not been crowned with success.
Mourning after the death of Genghis Khan lasted two years.
The foundations of domestic and foreign policy laid by Genghis Khan were continued and successfully developed by his successors, which subsequently led to the creation of the Mongol Empire, which has no analogues in world history in terms of the scale of its conquests. The activities of Genghis Khan had more lasting results than the activities of other world conquerors (Alexander the Great, Timur, Napoleon).
After the death of Genghis Khan, the borders of the empire not only did not shrink, but also expanded significantly, in terms of the vastness of the Mongol empire surpassed all states that had ever existed. The unified empire remained for another 40 years after the death of Genghis Khan, and the domination of his descendants in the states formed after its collapse continued for about a century.
The Mongol Empire (Eke Mongol Urus), created by Genghis Khan and expanded by his descendants, was in the 13th century not just the strongest state of the then world. Stretching from Korea and South China to Novgorod and Bulgaria, for the first time (and at the same time the only time in the history of mankind) it was able to unite China and Eastern Europe, the Eurasian steppes, the Caucasus and Iran within one state. The Mongolian state possessed a human, economic and military potential that surpassed all other large states combined. This is a unique case in the history of mankind. Western and Southern Europe, India, Southeast Asia, Northern Arica remained unconquered by the army of the Mongol state, but experienced its pressure and partially recognized its supreme power (Byzantium and the Daiviet kingdom were then nominal vassals of Mongolia). It was world domination.
The success of Genghis Khan's activity is explained only by his genius natural talents: he had neither predecessors who would prepare the ground for him, nor associates who could influence him, nor worthy successors. None of his sons and grandsons inherited his gifts. The best of them could only continue in the same spirit the activities of the founder of the empire, but they could not think about reorganizing the state on new principles, in accordance with the requirements of the time. For them, as for their subjects, the precepts of Genghis Khan were indisputable authority.
Author: Rowan